Rice (Oryza sativa) Husk as a Low-Cost Adsorbent Alternative for the Removal of Copper (II) Ions from Aqueous Solutions
Author : Guba, Arianne Jayne G.
Major Adviser : Dikitanan, Johanna Marie R.
Committee Members : Bataller, Butch G.; Guerrero, Gino Apollo M.; Laurio, Michael Vincent O.
Year : 2015
Month : June
Type : Thesis
Degree: BS
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Abstract
Rice husk, an agricultural waste, was modified to produce an adsorbent alternative for the removal of copper(II) ions from aqueous solutions. Chemical modification was done by treating the rice husk with H₃PO₄. This study investigated the effect of pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage and adsorbent particle size on the adsorption of copper(II) ions unto modified rice husk. It was observed that among the four factors, pH, contact time and the interaction between these factors are the only factors that significantly affects the sorption process. The highest removal efficiency of copper ions, 64.9853% occurred at pH6, adsorbent dose of 10 g/L with particle size of 390nm and contact time of 120 minutes. Adsorption isotherm experiments were carried out at room temperature and the data obtained from batch studies were fitted with Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich models. Among the four isotherms, the data best fit Freundlich isotherm with R² value of 0.779. The maximum adsorptive capacity of the sorption system was found to be 90.9091 mg Cu²⁺/g rice husk. The modified rice husk was compared to commercially available activated carbon and showed a lower copper removal efficiency of 66.7220% as compared to 95.5092% for activated carbon.
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